08/15/2009

We had a little flood this afternoon. An innocent looking little cloud dumped 1 inch of rain in about 20 minutes with winds that had to be around 70 mph. Rick was stuck over at the neighbors' for a while, and Minx and I spent a short time in the storm shelter when it appeared that the large shop door might blow in! I sent this first picture in to channel 11 as a weather digipic, and they used it twice on the 10pm news tonight.

As the storm moved away it looked quite harmless again.

Minx is exhausted after the ordeal.

05/24/09: We're moving in today!!

05/14/09

05/12/09

Lots of progress so far this week. THANK YOU Kathy & Walt for bringing out pizza and beer tonight! Enjoy your trip to Spain this summer.

Minx helps out with plumbing the sink.

05/10/09

It's coming along...... We're out of town next weekend for Michael's wedding, but moving on Memorial Day weekend (or at least by the end of May) remains a possibility.

05/04/09

We now have some color on the walls and cabinets!

05/02/09

04/30/09

Rick put primer on the cabinets, doors and drawers today.

04/26/09

Yes, those are grass plugs! We have to haul in some more dirt to fill in the center area before I can continue.

What a difference a week makes. Just one week of warm weather following a little rain has really greened up everything. The trees put on leaves again (for the third time now), and the grass is really growing. This is taken from the same spot as the picture on 4/19.

Minx the wonder cat.

04/19/09

Apple blossoms!

The new mailbox

The grass is beginning to grow.
This is the severe thunderstorm Thursday afternoon (4/16) with tornadoes and lots of hail. It developed over the farm and moved over Highland Oaks and south Lubbock.

04/12/09

Progress with cabinets...Rick still has to make doors & drawers but it's coming along well. We then just lack painting cabinets/walls, putting on countertops, placing trim on doors & baseboard, wiring plugs, putting in appliances, and putting finishing coat on floors. We are on track for move-in by the end of May. We are also on the waiting list to have the phone line (& DSL) installed from the front of the property, and the mailbox will go up this week.

The 94 hills of potatoes have been frozen to the ground twice but are making another comeback. The trees are also trying another comeback. For the first time, we actually have apple blossoms this year (and they survived the freezes)!

Let's hope all this windy and cool weather is on its way out and that we get a good rain soon. It's really dry.

04/02/09

03/07/09

The porch and sidewalk were poured yesterday. Rick told me they didn't get it done this week, so it was a nice surprise when I showed up today. Now I can work on the flower bed between the sidewalk and building and can begin moving grass plugs to the area when we get the levels right. I'll start transplanting the banana plants and some bulbs from our house in town tomorrow!

Minx gazes out the front door. You can see dust particles in the air from sanding in the taping/bedding process. One more coat and we'll be able to texture the walls. The next step will be finishing the ceiling and then we'll build the cabinets. The final step will be painting and putting up the trim.

03/05/09

Late February update

The wiring, insulation, lighting and part of the ceiling are completed. The floor was stained and covered yesterday, so now we can sheetrock/texture/paint and finish the ceiling.












The forms are now in place for the front porch and sidewalk. We hope to pour the concrete this week (approx. 5 more yards).

01/27/09 Puerto Vallarta

We're in Puerto Vallarta. We took a cab to the downtown area and were out all day. It is a nice city. We took a lot of pictures and bought a few souvenirs. We had some of the best shrimp I've ever eaten for lunch: shrimp ceviche, shrimp skewers marinated and grilled over charcoal, and a couple of spicy cajun-type shrimp dishes with sticky rice and french bread. The Pacificos were great too.
It finally got hot and sunny today! I'm sitting on the deck and the sun is beginning to set. I'll upload this to the internet later. Hope all is well at home. We're in Mazatlan tomorrow.